MSU Cross Country Teams Compete in Mid-America Opener

Saturday, August 30

Evansville, Ind.

10 a.m.

Murray State

Mid-American Opener

8/30/2008 8:00:00 PM | Women's Cross Country

The Murray State women's cross country team started the season off right with a second place finish at the Mid-American Opener that was held in Evansville, Ind. Alaina Zanin was MSU's top finisher in the 4K race. She came in fifth out of 86 runners with a time of 15:17.35. Katelyn Jones also captured a spot in the top ten with a time of 15:26.53 giving her a ninth place finish.

Karissa Magnuson (15:51.31), Taylor Crawford (16:12.42), and Asenath NaAman (16:14.06) rounded out the top 20, and helped MSU secure the second place spot out of six teams. Bridget Stichnot (16:28.30), Kristin Reffett (17:04.07), Jami Kloenne (17:10.26), Kristen Miller (17:20.06), Katie-Sue Thorpe (17:33.63), Ashly Rodgers (18:01.39), Kayla Crusham (18:20.07), Emily Ormay (18:26.44), and Ashely Myszka (20:55.11) also put forth their best effort.

“I was very impressed with how they represented themselves.” Assistant coach Chris England said about the woman's performance. “They were very confident throughout the race, and throughout the season as their fitness catches up they will keep improving.”

The women came in second to the University of Louisville with a total time difference slightly under four minutes. The difference between their average times was 48.3 seconds.

The MSU men's cross country team worked together to pull off a fifth place finish in their 5k run this weekend. Andrew Beckman was the first finisher for MSU with a time of 20:21.36 that put him in 32^nd place. Jack Findley followed with a time of 20:38.39 for 39^th place. Andrew Smithson (20:51.83), Theron Chalepah (21:15.72), and Andrew Pack (21:27.55) finished out the top five runners for MSU which helped to obtain fifth place out of eight teams. Brad Holloman (21:36.35), Ryan Millard (22:45.50), and Brandon Wiesemann (25:17.40) also competed in the race this weekend.

“They represented themselves well as a team and ran as a pack for most of the race, pushing each other along.” England stated about the men's strategy during the race.

“Overall both teams represented themselves very well.”

The next event for MSU's cross country teams will be the Mizzou Cross Country Challenge on Sept. 13.